


it was the end of a decade (but the start of an age)

by iknowplaces



Category: Glee
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, High School Reunion, Humour, Married!Faberry, Minor Angst, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-31 04:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21439963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iknowplaces/pseuds/iknowplaces
Summary: “What is it?” Quinn asks.“Our ten year reunion,” Rachel says absent-mindedly, scanning the page that clearly reads,Attention McKinley High Graduating Class of 2012: Get Ready for Your Ten Year Reunion!And subsequent information on the event.orRachel, Quinn, Santana, Brittany and special guest Jesse take on their ten year high school reunion.
Relationships: Jesse St. James/Sam Evans (Implied), Rachel Berry/Quinn Fabray, Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce
Comments: 7
Kudos: 249





	it was the end of a decade (but the start of an age)

**Author's Note:**

> what up, it's me again, writing a massive one shot instead of writing my multi chapter fic!! again this is so, utterly self-indulgent, just what I wanted to read, and so all of y'all are gonna read it too! Just to promote myself, please check out my main multi chapter fic, we were built to fall apart (then fall back together) because it's my baby, and if you like faberry you'll hopefully enjoy it, but also my other one shot, the jury's out (and my choice is you) is also out there to be read, so check those out! Also, there is very very minor references to homophobia in this fic, but nonetheless they are there, so trigger warning for that.
> 
> Title is from Long Live by Taylor Swift, I do not own that song, nor do I own glee or any other pop culture references! please kudos and comment if you liked it!!!

Quinn’s getting her mail when she sees them. There’s two envelopes stacked neatly on top of the flyers for dance classes and vegan restaurants, and upon seeing the return address, she almost gasps aloud. McKinley High, Lima, Ohio. It’s been a long time since she’s heard those words, and it’s been even longer since she’s seen them written out. The next thing that surprises her is how they’re addressed. Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray. She hasn’t seen their names written like that in almost three years, but she supposes whoever’s sending these letters from their high school isn’t keeping up with their last name change. She wonders what it could be about, as she closes the mailbox and walks up the stairs to her apartment.

When she opens the door, first she sees Jesse, in their arm chair, and on the couch, Brittany, with Santana in her lap, and then her wife just to their left, laughing at something one of them had said. It’s a beautiful picture, one she loves to see every Friday when she comes home from work, when Rachel has invited their best friends over. Rachel spots her, and her smile widens as she stands and makes her way over to her. Quinn smiles back at her. “Hi baby,” Rachel says, pressing a soft kiss to Quinn’s lips, “how was your day?”

“It was good, we’ve got some mail,” she says, handing the envelope to Rachel and settling down on the couch beside Santana and Brittany.

Rachel’s brow furrows. “Lima?” she says as she peels hers open.

“Did you two get these?” Quinn asks as her wife sits beside her, pulling a small piece of cardstock out.

“Yes, unfortunately,” Santana groans.

“It took a lot of convincing to get Santana to not burn hers,” Brittany laughs, pressing a kiss to Santana’s neck.

“What is it?” Quinn asks.

“Our ten year reunion,” Rachel says absent-mindedly, scanning the page that clearly reads, _Attention McKinley High Graduating Class of 2012: Get Ready for Your Ten Year Reunion!_ And subsequent information on the event.

“Aw, I didn’t get invited? I went for a whole semester,” Jesse mutters jokingly.

“You graduated a year before us, St. James. So even if you were a McKinley alum, which you weren’t because you were one of those vocal adrenaline pansies, you would’ve had yours last year,” Santana corrects.

“And I did,” Jesse says, “it was god awful. Every single person asked if I had a wife. Do I look like I have a wife? Am I really straight passing?”  
Quinn laughs a little at this exchange, but she finds herself a little distracted by the invitations. Their ten year reunion. She frankly cannot believe that it’s been ten years since they graduated high school. That means it had been ten years since Brittany and Santana had started dating, ten years since the four of them had seen anyone from their class, ten years since the day Rachel and Finn ended their engagement, ten years since their nationals win. It seems absolutely wild to think, when she could remember those days like they were yesterday. Beside her, Rachel frowns. “Did they get your last names right?” she asks Santana and Brittany.

Santana shakes her head. “No, seems like whoever is sending out the letters, hasn’t been keeping up with us. It’s been almost seven years since I’ve been Santana Lopez, and yet, there it was.”

“I thought it was kind of redundant they mailed two of them to the same location, what a waste of paper,” Brittany mutters and Quinn can’t help but agree. They may not know they were married, but what was the point of sending two invitations to the same address. They could be put in the same envelope, at least.

Rachel still seems almost mesmerized by the sheet of paper in front of her, and Quinn wonders why it has her so intrigued. Brittany seems to realize though, using her whacky intuition skills, and says, “Well, you guys probably want to talk about this, so I think Santana and I will head home, thanks for the coffee.”

“Yeah, Britt’s right, we have some things to do,” Santana says, standing.

“Wait,” Rachel says, lifting her eyes from the page, “Are you two going?”

Santana groans, again. “Unfortunately the missus has convinced me to go,” 

“You’re gonna have fun baby, you’ll get to brag about having a doctor for a wife, and about your budding music career,” Brittany says, and Santana rolls her eyes.

“She’s probably right, let us know if you decide you’re gonna go. See you later,” she says and Brittany waves as Santana pulls her out the door by their interlocked hands.

Jesse gets up too, “I think they’re right, I’m gonna bounce. But if you do end up going, I’d love to come. The look on their faces would be fucking ripe,” he says, almost laughing to himself as he leaves.

Rachel stays quiet for a moment looking at her invitation, when Quinn realizes hers is still in her hands, unopened. She sticks her finger under the fold, ripping it open, and pulling the cardstock out of its little home. Hers was exactly the same as Rachel’s, as was Santana and Brittany’s she’s sure, but there was something _real_ about it being hers. Rachel turns to her then, those big brown eyes that Quinn loves so much looking up at her. “Do you want to go?” she asks, and it’s a question Quinn has yet to figure out the answer to.

Her initial thought had been no. Absolutely not. Quinn had done everything in her right mind to stay away from Lima, to stay away from high school Quinn Fabray, and those that had made her life hard in those years, people who never really knew the true her. The only people that she’d even bothered to stay in touch with were Santana and Brittany, and of course Rachel (and she supposes, Jesse, but she hadn’t had much choice in that matter, as he was Rachel’s friend), but the latter had only butted her way into her life after much insistence. Insistence that Quinn finds herself grateful for everyday.

Her second thought though, is absolutely. Yes she spent the last ten years of her life trying to push McKinley away, but does she really want high school Quinn Fabray to be all these people’s memories of her? She is absolutely horrified by the thought that Mercedes Jones knows nothing about who’s she’s become, and she is even more terrified by the fact that Noah Puckerman probably thinks he still has a chance with her. She suddenly finds herself not wanting to be known as the girl who bullied Rachel, as the girl who only joined glee club because Sue Sylvester wanted to ruin it, as the girl who had a baby and lied about the father. That’s not how she wants to be known. She knows that she had changed for the better in their last few years of glee club, but she also knows that as much as she did, to _some_, she would always be that girl, and she wanted to show who she was now. That Rachel had forgiven her, that she was more than she had let them believe.

Quinn also can’t help but wonder what this opportunity means to Rachel. She knows that Rachel had a hard time in high school, because she had perpetuated it, and she knew that this was Rachel. She knew her wife, and she knew that Rachel probably wanted to strut through the halls of their old school, talking wildly about winning the Tony award she said she’d always win, and holding her hand. She knew Rachel would want to tote Quinn around McKinley high and let everyone know she had ended up with Quinn Fabray, head cheerleader, and honestly who was she to deny Rachel that? She had tormented her throughout high school, and now that they were together, and married (god even three years in Quinn got butterflies just thinking about it, Rachel was her _wife_) happily, she had no problem letting everyone know that she was lucky enough to be married to Rachel Fabray. She was proud, incredibly so, and if Rachel wanted to flaunt that, she was gonna let her. “I think it might be fun,” Quinn says, and Rachel almost seems shocked that her wife had said that, “I mean, we haven’t been back in awhile, your dads will be in town, and you can tell everyone you won a Tony.”

Rachel smiles at that, taking Quinn’s hands into her own and rubbing her thumb along Quinn’s wedding ring. “You know me so well,” she whispers, pressing her lips against Quinn’s before, “but more than anything, I really want to show off my beautiful wife.”

Quinn smirks at that. “Oh yeah, I figured that too. You just want everyone to know you won the little battle all the boys were having over me.”

Rachel kisses Quinn’s hands, “Well I think I probably had a better chance, given your sexual orientation.”

Quinn laughs, “You’re right,”

“But really,” Rachel says turning her eyes away from Quinn for a moment, “I am so lucky to be married to you, Quinn and everyone who went to high school with us should be extremely jealous.”

“I think everyone should be jealous of me, after all, I am married to the most talented McKinley high alum,” Quinn says.

Rachel smiles at her, “I love you.”

Quinn kisses her again, before whispering, “I love you too.”

•¥• 

They find themselves on a plane, not three months later, two rows ahead of Brittany and Santana, and across the aisle from Jesse (who had convinced them to let him come, for god only knows what reason, Rachel had seemed to think it’d be funny) heading to Lima, Ohio, for the first time in years. 

Quinn can’t deny she’s a little scared, but she’s pencilled in lunch with her mom and has plans to come out to her entire graduating class this weekend, so she supposes it's warranted. What surprises her though, is the nervous energy radiating from Rachel. Her wife sits beside her, shaking her knee and slowly twisting her wedding ring around her finger. Quinn knows she’s about to vibrate right out of her skin. “Baby,” Quinn starts, resting her hand on Rachel’s jostling leg, “Are you okay?”

Rachel shakes her head. “I suddenly feel awful for not keeping up with my friends, I mean, what was I thinking? I haven’t even added any of them on Facebook.”

Quinn rubs her hand across Rachel’s leg, “Rach, it’s okay, I think they’ll understand, high school friends tend to part, especially when you move away.”

Rachel nods, like she knows Quinn’s right but the thought of confronting her decisions really scares her, “God, I texted Kurt and told him we’d have lunch, but I haven’t even told him about you, or the fact that I kept in better touch with our tormentors than with him, he’s gonna hate me.”

The words make Quinn flinch a little, the reference to her, Santana and Brittany as her tormentors, hurts, even ten years later. She hates that she ever was that to Rachel. She hates it. “Baby, Kurt is not going to be mad at you for being happy.”

“I know, and you make me so happy,” she says, looking into Quinn’s eyes, “but I guess going back scares me, I almost feel like I’m reverting back to high school me.”

Quinn presses a kiss to the top of her head. “It’s gonna be okay Rach, I love you.”

“I love you too,” she responds, snuggling into Quinn for the remainder of their flight.

•¥•

They land, parting ways with the Lopez-Pierces and Jesse, and making their way to Rachel’s dads’ house, where they are greeted with exuberance. “The Fabrays, in Lima, Ohio,” Hiram says, wrapping his arms around both of them.

Quinn can’t help but smile. Rachel’s fathers had accepted her a long time ago, before her and Rachel had even started dating, just after she’d come out and her family had wanted nothing to do with her, they had taken her in and allowed her to celebrate holiday after holiday with them. It made Quinn feel like she really had been apart of a loving family, and when she married into the Berry clan, it only felt that much better. “What are you girls up to this weekend?” LeRoy asks.

“Well,” Rachel says, and Quinn can see her pulling up her mental itinerary, “tomorrow we have lunch with Kurt, then dinner with Santana and Brittany, they don’t have Breadstix in New York, and so Santana is convinced we are missing out, so we have to do that, and then on Saturday we have lunch with Judy and the reunion, then we fly out on Monday morning.”

Hiram hums, “Sounds like we’ll barely see you.”

“Don’t worry daddy,” Rachel says, “all of Sunday is time spent with you. Quinn wouldn’t let us leave without making sure we got our Berry time in.”

Quinn laughs at that, but Rachel’s right. They hadn’t seen her fathers since December, and Quinn missed them. She wanted to be around the people who made her feel like family, especially after she has to sit through the undoubtedly long and uncomfortable lunch with her mother. “Well Quinn, fear not, we are extremely happy to have you and are very pleased to spend a day with both our girls,” LeRoy says, squeezing Quinn’s shoulder.

It makes her feel so loved she almost feels dizzy. How did she get as lucky as to be apart of this family?

•¥•

Lunch with Kurt is freaking Quinn out a bit. It’s the first of many encounters that will certainly prove to be awkward, and she knows that this is one that has Rachel nervous too. Her and Kurt had never been particularly close in high school, and anytime his name gets brought up, her mind is instantly thrust towards his comments about how the world had never stopped loving her. It had hurt then, after being kicked out of her home, and absolutely struggling internally with her sexuality. She does feel a sick sense of pleasure though, at the thought that he might feel a little uncomfortable at comments he made knowing now her sexuality and all the shit she had gone through, but she tries not to focus on that, because it feels almost like bitchy high school Quinn, and she is not that girl anymore.

They arrive at the restaurant that Kurt designated before he does, and they sit at the back in a booth drenched in only half light. Rachel had told Kurt that her wife would be joining them (Kurt had been extremely shocked she was married to a woman, and Santana had laughed excessively when she had heard, because she always knew he had a shit gaydar) but hadn’t told him _who_ her wife was, Quinn was certain she loved the drama of surprising Kurt. It would be an awfully Rachel thing to do.

Kurt shows up within ten minutes, and as he wanders up to the booth, he begins to look extremely shocked. His eyes meet Quinn’s, “What are you doing here?” he asks Quinn, “I thought Rachel was coming with her w… oh.”

She sees his eyes fall on their entangled hands and the two rings on Rachel’s finger, and the one on hers. “Wait,” he says, and the shock in his eyes grows that much more as he almost falls into the booth across from them, “you two are married?”

Quinn holds back a laugh, before nodding, “Almost three years now.”

Kurt’s mouth opens and closes probably four times before he collects himself. “And I wasn’t invited to the wedding?”

Rachel laughs. “It was small. Just Santana, Brittany, my dads, and a few of our college friends,”

“Wow. I certainly didn’t realize either of you were even gay,” he says, and Rachel shakes her head.

“While my wife is very much a lesbian,” she says and Quinn salutes at that, “I am bisexual.”

Kurt nods. “Still, apparently I don’t have a very good gaydar.”

“Santana has made us plenty aware she thinks you have the worst gaydar known to any gay man ever,” Rachel says, and Kurt laughs.

“God, how is Santana?” he asks.

“She’s great, Brittany just got her PhD last year, so Santana is still flaunting the fact that she’s married to a doctor, always,” Quinn says.

“Wait, Santana and Brittany got married too? This reunion is far more shocking than I ever thought it would be,” Kurt huffs.

Quinn can’t quite understand why Santana and Brittany getting married would be shocking, they had left school coupled, moving to New York to go to Columbia together, and if any of their relationships were going to last, it was bound to be them, but she allows for his shock. He always had been a little oblivious. “Yeah, almost seven years ago.”

“Holy shit, am I the only single person from our graduating class?”

They all laugh at that, and the lunch continues a lot less awkward then Quinn thought it would be.

•¥•

Breadstix hasn’t changed one bit since the last time she was here, almost ten years ago. The menu still features subpar Italian food, and Santana still eats more breadsticks than humanly possible. She’s almost surprised the decor doesn’t look far more worn, considering how long it must have been up there. They’re about ten minutes into their meal when Rachel excuses herself to the bathroom and she finds herself alone with Santana, Brittany, and Jesse. Jesse’s texting some guy he left behind in New York, and her best friends are eating breadsticks like their lives depended on it. Santana had said something about getting their fill until they’re back for thanksgiving, and Quinn had laughed, like there wasn’t far better Italian places in New York. She knows though, for Santana and Brittany, and honestly for all of them, this place holds a lot of memories. It’s when she has that thought, that one of those memories comes waltzing through the door, his eyes almost immediately meeting Quinn’s. Finn Hudson. 

She feels her stomach drop into her toes at the sight of him, and her heart races when she sees him coming over, dragging a short brunette woman along with him. “Quinn Fabray,” he says, as he stands over them, his words pulling Jesse away from his phone, and even Santana and Brittany away from their own Breadstix induced world.

“Finn Hudson,” she says, and it’s hard to keep the bite out of her voice, “as I live and breathe.”

“Ha, yeah,” he says awkwardly, “are you in town for the reunion?”

“We are,” Quinn nods, suddenly hoping Rachel would come back, if only to mediate this awkward conversation between her wife and her ex-fiance.

For once, God listens to her prayers, and her wife wanders back from the bathroom into what Quinn feels is almost like a trap. Rachel looks at Finn, Finn looks at her, and for a moment nothing happens. Quinn doesn’t particularly like it. She knows the look on Rachel’s face, and it’s not as if she’s about to fall back into Finn’s arms, but she looks almost pensive. “Hi,” she whispers after a moment.

“Rachel,” he says, and it’s laced with all the history between two people who were almost married, that haven’t seen each other in ten years, “you’re here with them?”

Rachel nods, squeezing into her spot between Quinn and Jesse. “Yes, we’re just enjoying dinner before the reunion, you know how Santana loves her breadsticks,” Rachel says, pointing to their best friend who happily munches on a breadstick to punctuate her point.

“Yeah, yeah of course,” he stutters, and then Quinn watches him run his eyes over Rachel, in a way that has a possessive feeling pooling in her stomach.

She watches as his eyes catch Rachel’s hands as they stretch across the table, her rings glinting in the light. “You’re married?” he asks, dumbly, like he expected Rachel would never get over him. 

Rachel hums, “Yes. Happily,” she says, then she turns her attention to the brunette beside Finn, “as are you it seems.”

“Uhh, yeah, this is Jeanette. Jeanette, this is Rachel, Quinn, Jesse, Brittany and Santana, we went to high school together.”

Jeanette nods, like she knew this, and looks at Rachel a bit like it hurts. Santana ignores the clear awkwardness, and plows ahead like always, breaking the tension with a snarky remark. “Hi, nice to meet you Rachel 2, as he said I’m Santana, and this is my wife Brittany,” Santana says, reaching across the table to shake hands, a smug look lighting up her face.

“Santana,” Rachel chides, but Quinn can’t help but notice that she’s right. Jeanette _does_ look a lot like Rachel, and while it doesn’t surprise her, it kind of skeeves her out.

Santana looks like she’s about to protest, but Brittany grabs her hand, soothing her, and pacifying her need to create trouble. Finn looks between the five of them, at Quinn first, like she’s the out of place one in the scene, like she was the one that was wrong here. His eyes quickly skim Santana and Brittany, but they land on Jesse and Rachel and linger there for much longer. “So… you two huh?” he says, his eyes still on them.

Quinn can’t help but bark out a laugh. Jesse and Rachel? As if. Jesse hadn’t so much as looked at a girl since high school, and while sure, the two shared a bed fairly often, it’s only for their very platonic, once a month best friend sleepovers (very inconvenient for Quinn, who just wants to sleep in bed with her wife, but she knows what they mean to each other, so she lets them get away with it) and while Rachel was certainly bisexual, they had both long declared permanent love for their gender. “What’s so funny about that Quinn?” Finn asks, and at that, everyone else at the table breaks into laughter as well.

“Am I missing something?” he says, and Rachel nods.

“You are Finn.”

“And that is?” he asks.

“For starters, I’m like super mega gay,” Jesse says.

Finn looks like he’s weighing that in his head, and he decides it adds up. “Where’s your husband then? Is he not here?”

Quinn attempts to stifle her laugh again, because Finn looks almost mad about it. “That’s the other thing you’re missing Finn, I do not in fact, have a husband,” Rachel says.

“What? But you’re married.”

“Yes.”

“But you don’t have a husband.”

“Yes.”

He begins to question it again, when Quinn purposely dangles her left hand obviously across the table, and makes direct, loving eye contact with Rachel. She sees Jeanette’s eyes catch Quinn’s ring and blow to wide shocked proportions. Finn still couldn’t figure it out. “I really don’t get it.”

Rachel sighs. “Finn, I am married to a woman.”

His eyes widen. “B-B-But but, you’re not gay.”

“I am not, I am bisexual,” she says.

Finn continues to look shocked, like he hasn’t the foggiest idea what that means, that he can’t believe the woman he almost married in high school was even the littlest bit gay. “Who then?” he whispers.

Jeanette laughs beside him. “Finn, baby I love you, but god, you’re a little stupid,” she says, and Quinn laughs. She was glad someone said it.

“Me,” Quinn says finally, and Finn’s eyebrows furrow.

“What?”

“I am married to Quinn,” Rachel replies.

His eyes flit between the two of them and Quinn can’t help but feel a little smug. “S-so, you’re married?”

“Yes.” Quinn says.

“Wow,” and he looks like he just can’t wrap his mind around it.

The silence presses on, everyone feeling a little more than awkward. Santana finally breaks it after far too long, “Well if you don’t mind, our meal will be coming soon, and my wife and I haven’t had Breadstix in an ungodly amount of time, so we’d like to enjoy our meal in peace. Finnept, I am sure you can awkwardly gape at your married exes tomorrow at the reunion.”

Finn grimaces, like he hadn’t expected the harsh words from Santana, but Jeanette just nods. “We’ll let you get to your meal. Hope you enjoy it.”

They slip away from the table, Finn being almost dragged away by his wife. “Well that was fucking awkward,” Santana mutters, before turning back to Brittany and grabbing another breadstick.

Quinn can’t help but agree that it was. She hopes this encounter doesn’t bode a warning for the rest of the reunion.

•¥•

Quinn’s lying in Rachel’s childhood bed, some novel she’d picked up at JFK in her hands, when she feels eyes on her. She turns to her wife, who’s in the bathroom finishing her nightly routine, and sees that she’s looking at her. “Rach, is there a reason that you’re staring at me?”

Rachel smiles at her, putting down her hairbrush and wandering back over to the bed, where she sinks down on her side. “I just think you’re beautiful,” Rachel says, and even after all these years, Quinn can feel a blush colour her cheeks, “and you’re in my childhood bedroom for maybe the first time ever, and it’s just a little surreal. I have a gorgeous, wonderful wife, and she’s right here, in the place I grew up.”

Quinn smiles, putting her book down and reaching across to kiss her. “I love you so much, Rach,” 

Rachel hums happily. “I love you too,”

There’s silence for a moment, Rachel shuffling about, getting comfortable at Quinn’s side before, “Tonight was kinda strange, wasn’t it?” Rachel asks.

“What? You mean us running into our collective ex and the fact that he a, couldn’t believe we were married and b, is married to a Rachel Berry copy? What was strange about that?”

Rachel pouts. “She really did look like me didn’t she?”

“Yes,” Quinn says, tucking her arm behind Rachel, “he certainly has a type.”

Rachel snorts, “Well, I am glad that I was able to look past him, and upgrade, instead of getting the next best thing.”

“What, seeing your old fiancé didn’t stir up any latent feelings?” she jokes, “Didn’t make you wanna jump back into his arms?”

Rachel playfully swats at her. “Don’t even joke. You know how happy I am with you, you are the love of my life. He was just some passing phase.”

Quinn knows this, and she hadn’t even been jealous of Finn, but god hearing those words makes her feel good. She loves knowing that her wife feels the same way about their relationship that she does. Rachel was the love of her life, and it didn’t hurt to know she was Rachel’s too. “I know baby, I’m teasing,” Quinn says softly, rubbing her hand up and down Rachel’s back.

Rachel melts into her at that, looking up at her and pressing a soft kiss to her lips. “I know that, I’m just telling you, letting you know how much you mean to me.”

Quinn nods, kissing her again, deepening it this time, for just a moment longer, before pulling away. “Can you believe he thought you were married to Jesse?”

•¥•

If she’s being honest, lunch with Judy is what Quinn is most scared of this weekend. She hasn’t seen her mother in almost three years, since the woman wasn’t a fan of New York, and didn’t feel the need to visit Quinn that often. She hadn’t even come to the wedding, as much as Quinn and Rachel had asked her to. It sucked, the fact that her mother hadn’t supported her marriage enough to want to be there, but she had a feeling that would be the case. This would be her first time seeing her mom since she had gotten married, and the first time Rachel would ever meet her.

Quinn had honestly thought about just going alone, not bothering to make Rachel come with her to a lunch that was certainly going to be uneventful and tainted with subtle, bitter homophobia, but Rachel had insisted. She was going to support her wife, so she said, and what was Quinn going to do? Tell her no?

Now, they’re waiting in a booth at a restaurant a town over, because apparently Judy wasn’t fond of any of the places in Lima, and she had requested elsewhere. Quinn couldn’t help but wonder if it was less about dining options and more about not wanting the town to see her gay daughter, but she supposes Judy deserves the benefit of the doubt. She did agree to meet with them.

Judy wanders over ten minutes late, and she looks almost scared, as if her daughter and her wife were plotting her ruin, but she makes her way over, hangs her coat and turns to them, eyeing their joint hands and the rings on their fingers. It was a popular sight this weekend apparently. “Hi Quinn,” Judy says, wringing her hands uncomfortably.

Rachel lets go of Quinn’s hand and stands to greet her wife’s mother, “Hi,” she says, “it’s very nice to meet you, I’m Rachel Fabray, your daughter’s wife.”

Quinn finds it so weird to watch Rachel introduce herself to her mother, knowing they share the same last name, and have never met. It seemed so strange, and she wishes desperately that this wasn’t the case, but it was and here was her wife and her mother, meeting for the first fucking time. Judy sticks out a hand for Rachel to shake, confusing Rachel for a moment, because the Berrys were huggers, but she shakes it as Judy says, “Hi Rachel, it’s nice to meet you as well.”

It doesn’t sound entirely sincere, but it doesn’t sound rude either, so Quinn supposes she’ll take it as Rachel settles down beside her and grabs her hand yet again. “So Quinn,” Judy says, “what are you up to these days?”

Quinn knew the question was coming, she had prepared her answer for days, and while she was most certainly proud of the work she was doing, of her novel, she still feels the sting of rejection she felt the first time she told her mother that what she wanted to do was write. “I just sent in my manuscripts for my second novel, it’s looking really promising that it will be picked up by a big publisher, and all editors so far have loved it,” she says, waiting for her mother’s reaction.

She turns to Rachel for a brief second, her wife’s eyes shine with pride, and it makes Quinn feel wonderful. Judy hums. “Well good for you, Quinn, I’ll be sure to pick up a copy,” Judy says, and Quinn isn’t sure how she feels about her mom reading a book based on her own experiences with homophobia and coming out, but she supposes she can’t stop her, “Rachel, what do you do?”

She hates that Judy has to ask that, because Quinn knows that at some point during her and her mom’s certainly sporadic calls she has definitely mentioned her wife’s tony, and well, that had been broadcasted on TV as well. Rachel smiles though, like for once not being recognized for her career is okay, and says, “I’m an actress on Broadway. I just finished my run with Jane Austen Sings!, which I won a Tony for back in 2020,”

Judy seems impressed by that, and Quinn knows the smile on Rachel’s face is one of smug pride in her own accomplishments. “Wow, good for you Rachel,” Judy says as she opens her menu, “Quinnie, did you hear your sister is getting a divorce?”

Quinn’s not sure where she would hear that, it’s not like she has Frannie on Facebook, or any of their family really, because if they hadn’t disowned her for getting pregnant at fifteen, they certainly did when she married a woman. She shakes her head though, before saying “Isn’t that like her second one?”

Judy nods, without looking up from her menu. “It is, she certainly is having troubles staying settled, but well, I know your father and I were not great role models for marriage.”

Quinn really isn’t certain Russell can be considered her father anymore, but her mother was right about them not being good role models for marriage. It annoys her though, the implication that her and her sister are doomed to fail in their marriages, when that was not at all the case for her. Her and Rachel’s marriage was wonderful, something Rachel decides she needs to give voice to, “Funny how that is, considering Quinn and I have had an absolutely fantastic marital period thus far,” 

Judy looks like this statement makes her uncomfortable. Quinn can tell she’s weighing her options for what to say next, probably attempting to find the best way to avoid acknowledging her and Rachel were married. “Well, it hasn’t been long,” Judy decides on.

It was certainly a wrong decision though because the words have Quinn immediately on edge. “Mom, correct me if I’m wrong but hasn’t Frannie only been married to this guy for a year and a half?” she says.

Judy is quick to see where Quinn is going. “Yes, and she was only married to her first husband for three, I know,” she almost chastises, and Quinn hates it.

“Mhm,” Quinn says, “well Rachel and I have been married for almost three years now, and we are certainly not getting divorced anytime soon, right baby?”

Rachel nods. “I literally wouldn’t dream of it, honey,” she says as she squeezes her hand.

Judy grimaces. “Right.”

Quinn considers reiterating her point, maybe saying something about how she actually loves her wife, that she married for love not money or status or because she felt she had to and that’s why they work, but she decides not to push her luck. It took years in the making to even get her mom to come out with them and meet her wife, so she supposes that’s a topic for another time. She squeezes Rachel’s hand and gives her a soft look that is returned, and all is well.

The remaining lunch is awkward and stilted, but it’s finished, and she doesn’t have to see her mom for awhile longer.

•¥•

After lunch, Quinn finds she’s not particularly enthused to go to the reunion, but she knows they paid eighty-five dollars each for the meal, and no matter how upset and annoyed she is about her mom, that is a ridiculous amount of money to waste, so they’re going. Not to mention, Jesse, Brittany, Santana and Rachel are excited to go to this thing. That’s enough incentive on its own, the happiness of her four favourite people. 

She stands in Rachel’s bedroom, looking at the two dresses she’d packed, trying to decide which to wear tonight. She wasn’t really sure which one screamed _I haven’t been to Ohio since high school and I’m back, now married to the girl I bullied for all four years_, and she wonders briefly if she should’ve packed a different one, or even went shopping for a new dress. 

She sighs loudly, uncertain of her decision, when warm arms wrap around her waist from behind and Rachel’s lips press a soft kiss to her neck. “You doing okay, baby?” Rachel says.

Quinn can’t help but sink into her wife’s arms, Rachel makes her feel so safe and so at home, and she immediately soothes her. “I’m just not really sure what to wear,” she says, gesturing to the two dresses laid out on the bed.

Rachel shifts to Quinn’s side so she can see the dresses a little better, “The green one for sure, it’ll look great with your eyes,” she says, taking advantage of her movement and pressing a kiss to Quinn’s lips.

Quinn hums happily, “Thank you. I love you,”

“I love you too,” Rachel says, “now are you sure there’s nothing else bugging you?”

Quinn shakes her head. “Just nerves.”

“Understandable, but you needn’t be worried, you’re extremely talented, you have an award winning novel that has been at the top of the bestsellers list for an insane amount of time, and you have the hottest and most talented Mckinley alum for a wife. I say you’re in the clear. Everyone’s gonna be jealous of you!” Rachel says, looping her arms around wife’s neck, as Quinn laughs, “You’re wonderful darling, you were amazing in high school, and you’ve only gotten so much better. You’re going to make this reunion your bitch.”

Quinn can’t help but smile at that, “God you always know what to say, huh?” 

Rachel smirks. “You know I do, it’s one of my many gifts,” she says, kissing Quinn once again.

“Mhm, seems like kissing is another one,” Quinn says as Rachel begins to pull away and she attempts to chase her back.

“Okay flirt, how about you get dressed? We’re gonna be late,” Rachel says and Quinn can’t help but roll her eyes at her wife’s change of pace.

•¥•

The first familiar face she sees upon entering the gym is Sam Evans. He looks good, pretty much the same with a more mature haircut, no longer rocking the bieber flow. He sees them shortly after and while for a second he looks confused, a goofy smile lights up his face and he heads over to them. “Oh my god, the unholy trinity, and Rachel Berry in the flesh,” he says, looking over the four of them, his eyes then flitting to Jesse, which causes his eyebrows to draw closer, “and… Jesse St. James?”

Jesse nods awkwardly, before Santana steps forward to hug Sam. “Trouty,” she says, sounding incredibly happy to see him, “the only boy at this school I could tolerate, how’s life?”

Sam laughs. “Good, I just landed a gig modelling for Vogue,”

“Wow,” Brittany says, “he’s a bigshot!”

“Yeah!” he says excitedly, “so how about you guys? Obviously you’re still together.”

He gestures between Santana and Brittany’s joint hands, and Brittany lights up. “We’re married. Almost seven years,”  
“Oh wow! I am so happy for you,” he says, then his eyes drift to Quinn and Rachel’s hands, “this, though seems like a development that happened after high school.”

Quinn nods. “We got together right after Brittany and Santana got married.”

“_We’ve_ been married almost three years,” Rachel says proudly.

“Holy fuck, who would’ve guessed! Can’t say I’m not overjoyed though, this is totally a perfect match up,” Sam says, as charming and kind as he always had been, “what’s St. James doing here then?”

“Mostly I’m a shit disturber and I thought it would be funny if I came,” Jesse shrugs, “but I’m also Rachel’s best friend these days.”

“Yeah, sounds about right,” Sam agrees.

“Wanna get a drink?” Jesse asks, and Quinn wonders if he is flirting with Sam.

“Yeah, let’s do it,” 

And Sam and Jesse are off to the bar together, and Quinn’s night is already way wackier than she thought it was going to be. 

•¥•

It only gets wackier when Puck approaches her at the bar later in the night. Rachel’s off with Jesse and Sam on the dancefloor, and she’s watching, amused, a drink in her hand, until he steps in front of her. “Well if it isn’t my baby mama, wasn’t sure we’d see you at this fine event,” Puck says, making her feel more than a little disgusted.

Puck looks pretty much the same, but he finally shaved the dead squirrel off his head, and it seems he’s joined the military, which _of course_ he had. “Hello Puckerman,” she says, trying not to sound as annoyed as she already was.

He looks at her almost leeringly, and it makes her want to vomit, but she watches his eye catch her ring as she shot back the last of her drink. “You married?” he asks.

She hums noncommittally, trying to peer around him and catch a glimpse of Rachel, but her wife is nowhere to be seen. “So where’s your husband?” Puck asks, as an arm slides around her waist and a kiss is pressed to her cheek. Rachel.

“I don’t have a husband,” Quinn says, rubbing her hand across Rachel’s arm.

Her wife stands beside her, one arm wrapped around Quinn, one hand interlocked with Jesse’s. If you didn’t know their dynamic, it’d be confusing, and that can be seen as Puck grows increasingly more confused. “Well,” he says, looking at Rachel, and then Jesse, and then her, “If you’re husbandless, I’d like to buy you a drink.”

She looks at Rachel, wondering what he doesn’t get about this situation, and watches as a mischievous smirk slides across her wife’s face. “Oh I’m certain Quinn would love it if you bought her a drink,” Rachel says, lying through her fucking teeth, smiling at Quinn.

Quinn gets what Rachel’s doing, and she decides she’s going to be in on it. She drops the look on her face that she was certain was somewhat incredulous and very bored, and turns to Puck, “Yes, I would _love_ that,” she says trying to picture flirting with Rachel as she says it, because the idea of flirting with _Puck_ sort of makes her feel gross, but it’s also more than a little funny to mess with him, so she goes along with it.

He smiles that smile she knows he thinks works for him, orders her a drink, and turns back to them. “So Berry,” he says, as Rachel pulls Jesse by the hand into the conversation, “You with the competition again?”

He gestures to Jesse, and both Rachel and him smile, in a way that is not at all honest. “Mhm,” Rachel says, unwrapping her arm from Quinn’s side and runs her hand through Jesse’s short hair, in a way overdramatic show of affection, “yes, this is my _husband_, love of my life, my _everything_.” 

Quinn seriously is going to lose her lunch, but she can’t deny her wife is talented. Puck looks seriously disgusted, but satisfied, so he turns back to Quinn. “How was Yale?”

“Great, I graduated top of my class you know,” she says, trying to make it sound like she was flaunting her accomplishments. It’s been awhile since she had to flirt with anyone other than Rachel.

“Oh yeah, nice,” he says, “I joined the airforce, you know, protecting our country.”

He says it like he’s more than proud, but Quinn is surprised they let him through basic training. “Wow,” she says, dragging it out as long as possible, throwing a hand on his shoulder, “you look pretty good in that uniform.”

And as she winks, (she fucking winked! She was dedicated to this, and she had taken a minor in acting) Santana wanders over looking for a drink. She sees Quinn’s hands on Puck’s shoulder and her eyes widening. “Was it just a phase?” Santana jokes, ordering her drink.

Puck’s brow furrows. “What?” 

Rachel practically purrs, “Nothing Noah, Santana’s just commenting on how Quinn thought she was over you,”

Santana clues in then, on the little game they’re playing. “Oh yeah, took Q here years to get over the saw, she’s been utterly _heartbroken_,” she says and Quinn can’t believe they’re fooling him.

Puck nods, like that somehow makes sense, that Quinn has been hung up on him for the last ten years and then says, “Don’t worry babe, we’re here now,”

Rachel has to cover her mouth to stop giggles from spilling out. “Oh, good,” Quinn says, stepping into his zone, trying to stifle a gag at the smell of his overwhelming cologne, “maybe something can happen tonight.”

And thankfully, then Mr. Schue gets up on stage and announces that dinner is about to be served, and that there will be some speeches and performances from some of their classmates, and Quinn is freed from her little soiree with Puck. It’s pretty much the only time she’s been thankful for Mr. Schue.

•¥•

They don’t run into Puck until later that night, when they’ve parted from Jesse and the rest of their friends, and are in the hallway attempting to leave and go home. Rachel’s a little drunk, and Quinn’s a bit tipsy, so they’re not really casual when Rachel says, “I love you,” and leans in for a long kiss.

Quinn hums happily into her wife’s lips, letting the kiss drag on, slow and gentle, when the sound of a whistle has them jumping apart. “What is this?” Puck says, sounding way too smug for Quinn’s liking, “experimenting are we?”

Rachel actually laughs at that. “Puck,” she says, grabbing Quinn’s hand, “we’re married.” 

Puck’s jaw drops, staying open for more than a minute before he says, “What?” quite eloquently.

“We’re married, Puckerman,” Quinn says.

“B-bu-but earlier?”

“We were messing with you,” Rachel says, and Quinn loves the smug look on her face. She’s such a little shit.

“You two are married? Like for real, gay for each other, married?” he asks, and Rachel giggles for real.

“Yes Noah, we’re gay for each other married.” 

“Like Santana and Brittany?” 

“Yes, Puck,” Quinn says, “like Santana and Brittany.”

“Fuck,” he says, shaking his head, “what is it with me and gay girls?”

Quinn rolls her eyes. “You didn’t have a lot of luck with our glee club it seems,”

Puck nods. “Looks like it,”

“Well, good luck Noah, sorry we messed with you,” Rachel says, before Quinn gives her a bit of a glare.

“I’m not really sorry,” Quinn says with a shrug, pulling Rachel away, “See you at our twentieth Puckerman!”

And the two of them leave him there, looking more than a little dumbstruck.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed! please feel free to kudos and comment !!!


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